I have traveled to Eastern Washington several times just to look for Burrowing Owls. They are tough to see, because they are often in agricultural fields far from the road. The population of owls are declining in many areas due to degradation of habitat. The city of Cape Coral in Florida has made it a policy to protect these birds. They provide the proper habitat all over town, and if you are lucky enough to have the owls nest on your property, you do not have to pay property tax. It is a great incentive for homeowners to protect the birds. I traveled to Cape Coral on my last day in Florida. I was in Eastern Florida the night before, so I had to get up at 3 am in order to get to Cape Coral by sunrise. It was well worth the effort. 

I first went to the public library where I knew of a number of nests. Right off I found 6 or 7 nests. I saw birds in two of the areas, but no chicks. I then walked the neighborhood to scope out other nests. Across the street from the library I found 3 nests. All were occupied, but only one had chicks visible. Apparently there were chicks in one of the other nests, but for some reason they were much more skittish than the first one I found. I spent the next 3 hours watching the chicks. At first I was in the street, not wanting to tresspass on the property, but the homeowner came out and invited me to view the nest from his yard. Thank you Peter!!

The Cape Coral Owls are known to have some highly variable eye color, but the nest I photographed had the usual yellow eyes. When I first arrived, the sun had just risen, so their pupils were fully dilated.  Both the chicks and the adults watched me very closely when I first arrived, but after a while they just ignored me, no longer seeing me as a threat. For most of the time I was there, I saw 3 chicks. Only once or twice were all 4 out of the burrow. I was not entirely sure which was mama and which was papa, but I guessed that this was mama, as she spent a lot of time feeding and grooming the chicks.  The male spent most of his time protecting the chicks from a Northern Mockingbird. This bird was very agressive, attacking the male multiple times while I was there. I am sure the Mockingbird had a nest nearby.  The chicks were just learning to fly. At this point, it was more of a long hop with flapping wings. It was very cute to watch.  I am guessing the chicks were about 3 weeks old. They took frequent naps while I was there. This little one looks like the nap was imminent.  Owl chicks are so entertaining to watch. If I did not have a plane to catch, I would have been there all day. Here are a few more images I captured.  Doing its best Swan immitation.    The chicks were also very watchful for the Mockingbird. They looked up every time the Mockingbird flew by.  Many thanks to the town of Cape Coral for protecting these threatened birds. I am also glad that you have created a tourist attraction so that people like me can come to view these wonderful Owls.